Cairo: A video has gone viral showing a Saudi woman working inside a barber’s shop.
The footage shows the facemasked woman cutting the hair of a child while a man and a woman are filming her with mobile phones in a gesture of admiration. “You are a symbol and pride of Saudi Arabia,” the man is heard telling the female barber.
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The woman says in the video she is a Saudi national, who is reportedly the first Saudii woman to do the job.
She works at a barber’s shop serving children only in Taif in western Saudi Arabia, according to Saudi online newspaper Al Marsd.
She urged her compatriots to work “whatever this work is and to depend on themselves from earnings of their jobs”.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has experienced dramatic social and economic changes championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The kingdom has sought to shed its conservative image and vigorously empower women.
In 2018, the kingdom allowed women to drive for the first time in its history, ending a decades-old ban on female driving.
Saudi authorities have allowed women to travel without a male guard’s approval and to apply for a passport, easing long-time controls on them. Women were also allowed into stadiums to watch football matches, the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia.
